Holly Jolly… The Final Review

Well… Here we are. At the END of this amazing 6 week journey I was so lucky to be able to take with my new Crossfit family. Honestly I have learned so much. Mostly about myself. I have learned what drives me. I have learned the amazing things my body can do. I learned what foods agree with my body and what foods don’t.

I couldn’t be more thankful for this journey.

I will say that beginning it I wasn’t sure what kind of results I would see. I made jokes about how I “better have abs after this”. But to be honest, I knew that my boyfriend and I ate pretty well (or so I thought) at home so I was nervous it wouldn’t be as drastic of a difference as I thought. Especially after the first 2 weeks when I didn’t see any physical change. I got nervous. I doubted the affect going strict paleo would have on us.

Being someone who has always struggled with body image issues, I chalked it up to the same “I’ll never have that perfect body anyways” frustration. I almost let it get to me… But I didn’t. Thank goodness.

I think a big part of that was my boyfriend. I always talk about the importance of accountability but I think really this is where it plays out the most. When you are self-doubting or unsure, having that person that is along for the journey with you, that person who tells you that you CAN do more and be more, that person you see working their butt off and you just can’t let them down. That helped me. It ignited that spark again. That belief that, he’s right, I can do it. I can be amazing. And I let that push… To amazing results.

I debated sharing these but I think it really tells a story so I am going to share with you my “before” pictures and my very first bod pod reading…

That is where I started. And honestly, I was okay with that person. It’s not the thinnest I’ve been but I was consistently making progress in Crossfit with my mad lifts. I was hitting PR AFTER PR and that was so exciting to me. But I still struggled with other movements; body wheight and gymnastic movements. Movements that having a lower body fat would make it obviously make it easier to do. But would I lose strength? I questioned that too.

Well I can tell you 2 things that happened… Firstly, yes body weight movements became easier. I strung together more pull-ups than I ever thought I could. I finally hit some real grip strict pull-ups 😳 Handstand push-ups were a little easier… Emphasis on a little haha. Even things like burpees, jumping jacks, double unders all felt easier cause my body felt lighter. I even FINALLY did Rx pistos, on both legs. It was almost a weird phenomenon.

Secondly, I lost NO strength. In fact I hit a PR on my deadlift, back swuat, strict press, and clean. 🤗

I was shocked and very pleasantly surprisd. I peer the biggest thank you to my coach through it all as it was his constant encouragement, skill work, and push to start zone diet that got me to where I am now. My boyfriend and I both made amazing progress throughout the 6 weeks and I am excited to continue this nutrition journey and see where it brings us both.

So here are my ending results…

I decreased 7% body fat. Lost 10 lbs overall… With a 12 lbs fat loss and some lean muscle gain! Making me the lighted the I have EVER BEEN. And the strongest I have ever been.

Truly the most remarkable part about this journey was feeling the difference in myself without really there being THAT much of a difference. Let me explain… Usually it would be assumed with that much of a weight loss there would be a loss of strength. It is commonly accepted I feel like that the lighter you are the more difficult it is to move heavy weight. Well clearly I don’t agree with that. I think that the combination of continuing to lift as I always have a remaining consistent in my workouts while simply adapting my eating in a way that helped me eat to better perform kept me from losing any of my “gains”, as the kids would say 😉 I didn’t go on a low carb diet. I did not eat less. In fact I ate MORE. But I ate the right foods in the right portions for my body. Allowing my body to optimize the digestion and use of carbs for energy rather than for fat storing. But I made sure to eat enough carbs that my body wasn’t attacking the protein and breaking down the muscle in order to sustain itself. It was a way of looking at eat that I have never experienced before and it has truly changed my entire viewpoint on what I put in my body… permanently.

The Holly Jolly holiday challenge was the greatest of successes and I am ready to go full steam ahead.